|
|
|
|
What are Carlos Ghosn\'s India plans for RenaultNissan?Carlos Ghosn speaks about the relationship with Mahindra Mahindra, and why he chose Bajaj as a partner.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:43 pm Rackspace says to continue investing in cloudWeb hosting company Rackspace Hosting Inc plans to continue investing in cloud computing and is closing the gap with Amazon.com, its top executive said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Nov 2009 | 6:09 am Disinvestment of unlisted PSUs is difficult: Pradip BaijalPradip Baijal, former Secretary, Department of Divestment says the divestment proceeds should go to a consolidated fund of India.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Nov 2009 | 5:34 am Playboy in talks to be sold!Playboy Enterprises is in talks to be sold for more than USD 300 million as the advertising slump and a boom in online pornography erode its once lucrative publishing business, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Nov 2009 | 5:28 am Asia-Pacific leaders warn of mounting protectionism!Singling out the United States for trends "going in the opposite sense of free trade" Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on Saturday trade protectionism is a major threat to the global economic recovery.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Nov 2009 | 5:28 am US bank failures rise to 123; most since 1992!Regulators shut down two banks in Florida and one in California on Friday, boosting to 123 the number of US bank failures this year as loan defaults rise in the worst financial climate in decades.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Nov 2009 | 5:28 am Buffett, Gates tell students worst is not over!Capitalism is still alive and well, say the world`s two richest men, despite lingering shocks from the longest, deepest recession since the Great Depression.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Nov 2009 | 5:28 am China sees strong factory output for rest of 2009!Chinese industrial production in November and December will grow about 16 percent from year-earlier levels, Li Yizhong, Minister of Industry and Information Technology, said on Saturday.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Nov 2009 | 5:28 am CA institute lists cos for IFRS convergenceThe Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has brought out a list of over 400 companies that should converge their accounting practices with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by April 2011.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Nov 2009 | 4:44 am BSNL puts 93mline GSM tender on holdIn a move that could delay its mobile roll out plans further Bharat Sanchar Nigam has directed all its zonal offices across the country not to place any purchase order under the 93millionline tender until further orders.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Nov 2009 | 4:41 am Nalco to partner NPC for nuclearpower projectPublic sector aluminium giant National Aluminium Company (Nalco) plans to enter nuclear power generation and distribution in partnership with Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC).Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Nov 2009 | 4:32 am Jet pilots\' union NAG deregistered by Labour CommissionAfter it nearly grounded India\'s number one carrier Jet Airways, National Aviators Guild (NAG) has now itself been deregistered by the Labour Commission.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Nov 2009 | 4:29 am RBI cautions NBFCs on \'politically exposed persons\'The Reserve Bank of India has cautioned nonbanking finance companies that in the event of an existing customer or the beneficial owner of an existing account subsequently becoming a politically exposed person (PEP) then the companies should obtain senior management approval to continue the business relationship.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Nov 2009 | 4:27 am HDFC picks up 41% in Credila FinancialHousing finance major HDFC is entering the education loan business, which the company sees as a high growth segment.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Nov 2009 | 4:23 am Inflation rises to 1.34% in October on costlier food itemsThe first monthly data released by the Government today showed inflation more than doubled to 1.34 per cent in October compared to 0.5 per cent a month earlier as essential food items turned costlier.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 14 Nov 2009 | 3:26 am First tranche of AI equity infusion likely by Dec: PatelAir India is likely to receive the first tranche of equity infusion by December, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Saturday.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 14 Nov 2009 | 3:24 am Rubber cultivation to be pushed in the north-eastArea under rubber cultivation in the north-eastern region would be doubled to make India the number one natural rubber growing country in the world, rubber board chairman Sajen Peter said here Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Nov 2009 | 3:02 am 'Kyoto principles' crucial in climate talks - ChinaBEIJING (Reuters) - China will insist the main principles of the Kyoto Protocol are retained in any new global climate change pact, even though others are seeking to abandon them, a high-ranking climate official on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Nov 2009 | 3:01 am Food prices jumped 13.32 percent in OctoberIndia's annual rate of inflation, based on wholesale prices, rose sharply to 1.34 percent in October from 0.5 percent in the previous month, mainly on account of a 13.32 percent jump in prices of food articles.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Nov 2009 | 3:01 am Union Bk vigilance says no irregularity in deals with KodaStateowned Union Bank of India\'s investigations into large cash transactions by Balaji Bullion, the alleged front used by former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and his aides being probed in a money laundering case, has revealed no irregularities, head of the bank\'s vigilance team has said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Nov 2009 | 3:01 am India's annual inflation rate rises to 1.34 percentIndia's annual rate of inflation, based on wholesale prices, rose sharply to 1.34 percent in October from 0.5 percent in the previous month, mainly on account of a 13.32 percent jump in prices of food articles.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Nov 2009 | 3:01 am Food prices jumped 13.32 per cent in October - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am Tata Steel to start work at Orissa plant in DecKOLKATA (Reuters) - Tata Steel will start constructing a 6-million-tonne steel plant in Orissa from next month, its Managing Director H.M. Nerurkar said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Nov 2009 | 2:57 am INTERVIEW - Rio says China not enough to sustain industrySINGAPORE (Reuters) - OECD economies must recover for the resurgence of international trade and consumer spending needed for miner Rio Tinto and other industries to be on a sustainable footing, its chief executive said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Nov 2009 | 2:53 am Steel output seen at 60 mln tonnes in FY10KOLKATA (Reuters) - Steel production in India is likely to be about 60 million tonnes in the financial year ending March 2010, up from 56.39 million tonnes in the previous year, Virbhadra Singh, minister of steel, said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Nov 2009 | 2:11 am October WPI inflation at 1.34 pct y/y - govtNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's annual wholesale inflation accelerated in October from a month earlier on costlier minerals and fuels, and analysts expect monetary tightening from next year as the economy picks up.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:45 am Reignite the Flame - TVS Flame DS125 - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:38 am October inflation at 1.34%New Delhi: India’s annual wholesale inflation accelerated in October from a month earlier on costlier minerals and fuels, and analysts expect monetary tightening from next year as the economy picks up. On Saturday, the government switched to using monthly inflation data for all commodities with 1993-94 as the base year, from the earlier practice of announcing weekly price movement. The wholesale price index was up 1.34% in October from a year earlier, compared with 0.5% in September and 11.06% a year ago. Food prices however declined by 1% from the previous month’s level, while minerals and industrial fuels were each costlier by 3%. “Inflation is building up from the supply side with a lower summer crop and rise in global fuel prices. Demand side pressures might start showing up from December,” said N R Bhanumurthy, economist at National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. “Going forward, we expect monthly inflation at 7.8% by end of March 2010,” he said. At its policy review last month, the central bank lifted its inflation forecast to 6.5% for the end of 2009-10 fiscal year in March, but left policy rates unchanged. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also laid the groundwork for a rise in interest rates by tightening credit to the commercial property sector and removed some of the emergency liquidity support steps that were extended to protect the economy from the global downturn. Although the annual change in the WPI is still below 2%, the index has risen 6.13% from the beginning of 2009-10 financial year that started in April. The consumer price index, which attaches greater weightage to food and essential items, was up 11.72% in September. India’s industrial output grew 9.1% in September from a year earlier, helped by stimulus and festival demand, and adding to the debate on the timing of exit policy. Monetary Tightening The International Monetary Fund has pinpointed India, plus China and Australia, as economies that are recovering rapidly, suggesting growing pressure for authorities to tighten monetary policy ahead of others in the region. A Reuters poll of 20 analysts following the October policy review found that 9 of them expected an increase in the key repo rate by the end of January, when the RBI holds its next review, while all 20 expected a hike both in the repo and reverse repo rates by the end of April. Fitch India director Devendra Pant said monetary action would not be effective in containing inflation that is driven by food prices. “The chances of monetary tightening before January are less unless the headline inflation rises significantly and price pressures builds in the manufacturing side,” he said. The driest spell in nearly four decades and floods in parts of the country hurt crops and dampened prospects of a faster recovery, and ministers have reiterated the need to continue with fiscal stimulus measures this year as recovery was still fragile. Ministers and officials have also said some of the accommodative monetary and fiscal stimuli may be withdrawn from next year as the economy starts growing at 7% or more. “Monetary tightening will be conditional to robust recovery especially in the industrial output. If there is a strong recovery and inflation is also high, monetary tightening could happen between end of January and April,” said Bhanumurthy. The central bank forecast the economy would expand 6% in 2009-10, below 6.5% predicted by the prime minister’s economic panel. It grew 6.7% last year, slowing sharply from 9% or more between 2005-06 and 2007-08. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:34 am Sensex soars 10% in November as dollar slidesGlobal factors that helped Indian bourses rise by over 10% in November so far, may continue to power a short-term bull run next week as well as investors turn to risky assets following sliding dollar against a basket of currencies.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:10 am Obama seeks rebalancing, Asia warns of protectionismSINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama called on Saturday for a new strategy to rebalance global growth, but leaders around the Pacific rim, gathering for a weekend summit, took aim at signs of U.S. trade protectionism.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:07 am Bulls push Sensex up 4.2 percent (Weekly Market Review) - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:06 am ONGC stumbles upon uranium in AssamOil exploration firm Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) Saturday said it has stumbled upon a reserve of uranium while carrying out exploration work in an oilfield in Assam.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:05 am Crackdown on illegal mining in Orissa to continueThe crackdown on illegal mining in Orissa will continue 'as long as necessary', a senior state government official has said here, adding that it is meant to preserve the environment and ensure that rules are followed.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:04 am Climate change affecting northeastern women's livelihoodsShe may not be able to define climate change, but Ethel Sumi of Nagaland knows it delayed the monsoons in her region this year, which in turn affected the paddy crop drastically.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:04 am Toyota to fix accelerators in huge US recallToyota is believed to have agreed with U.S. authorities to voluntarily repair the accelerator pedals.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:03 am Bulls push Sensex up 4.2 percentThe bulls shoved their way up for the second straight week at the Indian equities markets this week, pushing a key index to end trade 4.27 percent higher Friday, with broader markets also recording gains.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:02 am Inflation up 1.34% in OctoberWheat, rice, moong dal, tea, mutton, condiments and spices were among the commodities which saw prices soaring during the month.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am Government plans 30% hike in gas priceThe ministry has moved a cabinet note to raise the price to $2.4 per million British thermal unit from $1.8 now.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am HP-3Com deal raises stakes in tech M&A battleNew York: Major technology companies seem to be launching multibillion-dollar acquisitions every other week, and those who don’t join the race may be at risk of getting run over. Hewlett-Packard Co challenged Cisco Systems Inc this week by announcing a $3 billion deal for network equipment maker 3Com. It came after Cisco stepped up its dealmaking and expanded into the server market to compete with HP, IBM and Dell Inc. “I think this is the start,” said Ronald Gruia, analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “Once you have one acquisition, you can have a cascading effect.” The motivation behind this wave of dealmaking by the tech majors is to broaden product portfolios and provide for all of customers’ IT needs -- from computing, security, storage and networking to online videoconferencing. HP’s 3Com deal comes after a string of M&A news including Dell’s deal for Perot Systems Corp, Xerox Corp’s deal for Affiliated Computer Services Inc and Oracle Corp’s deal for Sun Microsystems. IBM, which bid for but failed to win Sun, has been comparatively quiet on the dealmaking front, doing some smaller deals to expand its services business and signing sales partnerships but nothing viewed by Wall Street as a game changer. Pressure is mounting on technology companies to diversify to satisfy shareholders’ demands for more dramatic sales growth as the economy recovers, analysts said. “There are three big enterprise infrastructure vendors today: IBM, HP, and now Cisco. And they’re all competing against one another,” said Broadpoint AmTech’s Brian Marshall. Smaller, niche technology firms, on the other hand, are increasingly open to buyouts as a way of securing a solid sales channel. A smaller company bought by a large vendor like Cisco or IBM could turn into a serious competitor overnight. M&A deals are also a response to customers looking for simpler and cost-efficient ways to run data centers, which are struggling to cope with increasing data traffic. “All of us are under pressure in the IT environment to allow businesses to do more with less,” VMware chief executive Paul Maritz told Reuters in an interview. “People are trying to say, rather than selling everything piece by piece on an a la carte basis, requiring customers to be their own master chefs, we’re going to sell more prepackaged meals here.” Brocade, Riverbed, F5 Companies like Riverbed Technology Inc and F5 Networks Inc, which specialize in supporting faster and more secure online applications, are widely seen as possible acquisition targets. F5 shares have risen 75% in the last six months, though Riverbed is up only 18%. Both companies trade at around 25 times forecast 2010 earnings. And while HP’s offer for 3Com made it look like Brocade Communications Systems Inc may have missed out, some analysts said the switching and storage networking company is still an attractive target. “I think Brocade is still definitely in play,” Gruia said, adding that IBM could be a buyer. Brocade shares have fallen more than 12% since HP announced the 3Com deal. Most analysts, however, said IBM is likely more interested in expanding in software and services than hardware. It has bought business analytics company SPSS Inc for $1.2 billion. “They’re really going to focus on software because that’s where the value and the real margin structure in growth is,” said Marshall. Analysts say HP and Dell could also do more deals, and many see network equipment maker Juniper Networks Inc eyeing M&A to compete against Cisco. Other acquisition targets include wireless technology firms as well as companies specializing in online video, analysts said. They are particularly focused on Polycom, whose bigger rival Tandberg is being courted by Cisco. The Tandberg deal is not yet final as some shareholders are seeking a higher price. Partnerships Polycom CEO Robert Hagerty said that rather than find a buyer, it was trying to boost sales partnerships with vendors like HP and IBM. That is similar to the strategy at Brocade, which has forged more deals with IBM and non-Cisco vendors. Analysts said depending solely on such partnerships may leave many companies vulnerable. Resale partnerships can be cast aside when one party enters an M&A deal with another. For example, video network infrastructure company Radvision is a close partner of Cisco, but analysts say some of its sales are at risk if the Tandberg deal goes through. But some also note that acquisitions themselves are high-risk endeavours. Cisco chief John Chambers has said that around 90% of acquisitions fail, in general. “As we all understand, the vast majority of acquisitions fail, and truly meaningful strategic alliances have an even poorer success rate,” Chambers told analysts recently. The cross-Atlantic merger of Alcatel-Lucent, which posted its 12th straight loss in the third quarter, is widely cited as a failure. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am HP-3Com deal raises stakes in tech M&A battleNew York: Major technology companies seem to be launching multibillion-dollar acquisitions every other week, and those who don’t join the race may be at risk of getting run over. Hewlett-Packard Co challenged Cisco Systems Inc this week by announcing a $3 billion deal for network equipment maker 3Com. It came after Cisco stepped up its dealmaking and expanded into the server market to compete with HP, IBM and Dell Inc. “I think this is the start,” said Ronald Gruia, analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “Once you have one acquisition, you can have a cascading effect.” The motivation behind this wave of dealmaking by the tech majors is to broaden product portfolios and provide for all of customers’ IT needs -- from computing, security, storage and networking to online videoconferencing. HP’s 3Com deal comes after a string of M&A news including Dell’s deal for Perot Systems Corp, Xerox Corp’s deal for Affiliated Computer Services Inc and Oracle Corp’s deal for Sun Microsystems. IBM, which bid for but failed to win Sun, has been comparatively quiet on the dealmaking front, doing some smaller deals to expand its services business and signing sales partnerships but nothing viewed by Wall Street as a game changer. Pressure is mounting on technology companies to diversify to satisfy shareholders’ demands for more dramatic sales growth as the economy recovers, analysts said. “There are three big enterprise infrastructure vendors today: IBM, HP, and now Cisco. And they’re all competing against one another,” said Broadpoint AmTech’s Brian Marshall. Smaller, niche technology firms, on the other hand, are increasingly open to buyouts as a way of securing a solid sales channel. A smaller company bought by a large vendor like Cisco or IBM could turn into a serious competitor overnight. M&A deals are also a response to customers looking for simpler and cost-efficient ways to run data centers, which are struggling to cope with increasing data traffic. “All of us are under pressure in the IT environment to allow businesses to do more with less,” VMware chief executive Paul Maritz told Reuters in an interview. “People are trying to say, rather than selling everything piece by piece on an a la carte basis, requiring customers to be their own master chefs, we’re going to sell more prepackaged meals here.” Brocade, Riverbed, F5 Companies like Riverbed Technology Inc and F5 Networks Inc, which specialize in supporting faster and more secure online applications, are widely seen as possible acquisition targets. F5 shares have risen 75% in the last six months, though Riverbed is up only 18%. Both companies trade at around 25 times forecast 2010 earnings. And while HP’s offer for 3Com made it look like Brocade Communications Systems Inc may have missed out, some analysts said the switching and storage networking company is still an attractive target. “I think Brocade is still definitely in play,” Gruia said, adding that IBM could be a buyer. Brocade shares have fallen more than 12% since HP announced the 3Com deal. Most analysts, however, said IBM is likely more interested in expanding in software and services than hardware. It has bought business analytics company SPSS Inc for $1.2 billion. “They’re really going to focus on software because that’s where the value and the real margin structure in growth is,” said Marshall. Analysts say HP and Dell could also do more deals, and many see network equipment maker Juniper Networks Inc eyeing M&A to compete against Cisco. Other acquisition targets include wireless technology firms as well as companies specializing in online video, analysts said. They are particularly focused on Polycom, whose bigger rival Tandberg is being courted by Cisco. The Tandberg deal is not yet final as some shareholders are seeking a higher price. Partnerships Polycom CEO Robert Hagerty said that rather than find a buyer, it was trying to boost sales partnerships with vendors like HP and IBM. That is similar to the strategy at Brocade, which has forged more deals with IBM and non-Cisco vendors. Analysts said depending solely on such partnerships may leave many companies vulnerable. Resale partnerships can be cast aside when one party enters an M&A deal with another. For example, video network infrastructure company Radvision is a close partner of Cisco, but analysts say some of its sales are at risk if the Tandberg deal goes through. But some also note that acquisitions themselves are high-risk endeavours. Cisco chief John Chambers has said that around 90% of acquisitions fail, in general. “As we all understand, the vast majority of acquisitions fail, and truly meaningful strategic alliances have an even poorer success rate,” Chambers told analysts recently. The cross-Atlantic merger of Alcatel-Lucent, which posted its 12th straight loss in the third quarter, is widely cited as a failure. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am New cane seeds could wipe out sugar shortageMumbai, Nov. 13 Farmers in North India got a welcome gift in the form of three new high-yielding sugarcane seeds to be introduced by the Coimbatore-based Sugarcane Breeding Institute.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am RBI cautions NBFCs on ‘politically exposed persons’Mumbai, Nov. 13 The Reserve Bank of India has cautioned non-banking finance companies that in the event of an existing customer or the beneficial owner of an existing account subsequently becoming a politically exposed person (PEP) then theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am BSNL puts 93-m-line GSM tender on holdNew Delhi, Nov. 13 In a move that could delay its mobile roll out plans further Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has directed all its zonal offices across the country not to place any purchase order under the 93-million-line tender until further orders.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am Unstable weather forecast across country over weekendPrevailing weather across the country is poised to get unstable with Cyclone Phyan remnant dictating terms over the north as does an incoming easterly wave to the south.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am No spike in bank NPAs despite loan recast: RBIChennai, Nov. 13 Although some rating agencies had forecast that Indian banking industry would have a build-up of bad loans close to six per cent in 2008-09, bad loans were only four per cent of the total advances said, Mr D.P. Rath, Director,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am SEBI allows registered brokers to deal in mutual fund productsIn a move that could considerably widen the distribution network for mutual funds, SEBI on Friday allowed registered stockbrokers to transact mutual fund units on behalf of their clients through the stock exchangeSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am PVR acquires DLF’s DT CinemasNew Delhi, Nov. 13 PVR Ltd announced on Friday that it has acquired DLF Group’s DT Cinemas.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am Inflows into equity mutual funds slow down as distributors shift focusKolkata, Nov. 13 Investments into equity funds are slowing down with distributors opting to sell ULIPs and post office savings schemes as commissions from mutual funds have become negligible, said experts.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am Retail investors set to get rich pickings of Central PSUsNew Delhi, Nov. 13 The Government is likely to offer public sector shares at a discount to individual investors as part of its disinvestment programme.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am HDFC picks up 41% in Credila FinancialHousing finance major HDFC is entering the education loan business, which the company sees as a high growth segment.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am NTPC sale to fetch 1.8 billion dollars: Disinvestment Secretary - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:37 pm ANALYSIS - HP-3Com deal raises stakes in tech M&A battleNEW YORK (Reuters) - Major technology companies seem to be launching multibillion-dollar acquisitions every other week, and those who don't join the race may be at risk of getting run over.Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:34 pm Google, Authors Guild try to answer book deal concernsGoogle's plan to put millions of books online has been praised for bringing broad access to books but has also been criticised on antitrust, copyright and privacy grounds.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:26 pm Obama Says US Seeking Broader Engagement With Asia - Bloomberg
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:07 pm President opens India's biggest trade fairThe 29th edition of India International Trade Fair opened for business visitors at the sprawling Pragati Maidan exposition grounds here Saturday with 7,500 domestic and overseas exhibitors from 29 countries.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm SEBI allows registered brokers to deal in MF products - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Nov 2009 | 10:55 pm Govt plans 30 pct hike in gas price - papersMUMBAI (Reuters) - India's petroleum ministry has proposed raising the price of natural gas produced by state-run firms such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Oil India by more than 30 percent, newspapers said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Nov 2009 | 10:40 pm Asia-Pacific leaders warn of mounting protectionismSINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singling out the United States for trends "going in the opposite sense of free trade" Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on Saturday trade protectionism is a major threat to the global economic recovery.Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Nov 2009 | 9:38 pm Rains to benefit coffeeThe rains would hasten the Robusta ripening by at least 15 days, which would boost the yield next year.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Nov 2009 | 8:47 pm IBM pilots web talkathon in Andhra PradeshThe technology, which is analogous to a URL, will spur voice-based transactions.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Nov 2009 | 8:45 pm Cafe owners warm up to consultantsThe consultants offer a range of services from how to set up cafes, customising menus, free barista training, positioning of the coffee bars and sourcing vending machines.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Nov 2009 | 8:40 pm Nissan says all-electric Leaf will compete on priceLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co Ltd will keep the price of its upcoming battery-powered Leaf competitive with similar-sized cars and expects to make money on the vehicle despite the cost of its launch, Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pm ED issues fresh summons to Koda - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Nov 2009 | 2:38 pm Future's brands arm lines up IPR consultancy pushPlans to take more brands national.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Nov 2009 | 2:07 pm Usha Martin scouting for an iron ore mineUsha Martin is eyeing an iron ore mine acquisition through its wholly owned subsidiary, Bharat Minex.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Nov 2009 | 2:06 pm DLF sells theatre business to PVRDT Cinemas fetches the realty player Rs 22 cr and 10% stake in PVR.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Nov 2009 | 2:05 pm RIL offers to withdraw directors' affidavits on MoU - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Nov 2009 | 1:32 pm UIDIA hub to be set up in B'lore - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Nov 2009 | 12:54 pm There is an opportunity now that we are clear we are not getting a climate change treatyNew Delhi: Former chief economist of the World Bank (2000-03) Nicholas Stern is also an accomplished climate change economist—he authored the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change during his stint as adviser to the UK government between 2005 and 2007. Stern, who has taught at the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata, is a veteran India hand and has been involved with some seminal research work on agriculture in the country. Stern has been part of the debate on climate change, which has now entered a critical phase with less than a month to go before a decisive summit opens in Copenhagen. During his visit to India earlier this week, he spoke to Mint, highlighting the fact that Copenhagen may throw up only a political deal; a positive shift in the global perception of India and the changes in its negotiating stance; and how the Obama presidency has improved chances of the US being part of a new climate deal. Edited excerpts:  Role recognition: Nicholas Stern says the perception of India as being difficult and intransigent has changed; now it’s being seen as constructive ‘and that wasn’t true about a year ago’. Ramesh Pathania / Mint What are your expectations from Copenhagen? My hopes from Copenhagen are a strong political deal. I think it is now recognized that you will not get a formal treaty at Copenhagen; in some sense that makes it easier to focus on structure. And, if we get a good structure to begin with, then the details can be worked out. It means clear targets for the coming decade, 2020, 2030 and 2050 for the world as a whole; clear reductions for rich countries—at least 80% by 2050 with a credible path from here to there. That would give an overall framework with global reductions by strong, rich countries. Then the other element is finance. And, I think we should be looking for at least $100 billion (Rs4.65 trillion) per annum from rich countries to poor countries by 2020. But even more important is the clarity on at least $50 billion per annum from rich countries to poor countries by 2015; because, I don’t think the higher figure by 2020 is credible without clarity for the nearer date. But also, even more important, developing countries that are putting together climate change action plans have to feel complimented that they have got the right kind of support. This seems very optimistic given the signals coming out from key countries. We also do not see any preparations that indicate the world’s political leadership will be present in Copenhagen? I said that this is what I hoped. Now that means we must have clarity about what we are working towards; to be optimistic or pessimistic is irrelevant at this stage. What really matters is having clarity about what would be a good outcome and asking what would be the best method to work towards that. Only recently has it become clear that the political agreement is an essential agreement at Copenhagen. And, now, governments around the world are talking as to what it should be. There was a discussion at the G-20 meeting of finance ministers over this weekend; and, really for the first time they started to get to grips with the problem. They did not come up with final agreements, but I suspect that’s because that has to be seen in the overall context of what a deal might look like; you can’t just pick the bits. …I think there is an opportunity now that we are clear that we are not going to get a treaty and (instead) focusing on the key elements; asking what the key elements are. I think there is a good chance that we will make progress on those key elements and that the political leaders do and will recognize that their presence is very important. The decision of whether to go will be taken quite late in the day. How do you perceive the recent signals out of India with respect to its stand on climate change? Environment minister Jairam Ramesh seems to be articulating a new position. Over this last year, the international perception of India has changed from a broad perception—never my own—that India was being difficult and intransigent. That has changed. India is now seen as challenging, making strong arguments—particularly about the importance of combining the action on climate change and overcoming poverty, but at the same time being constructive. And, India is seen as recognizing the importance of wanting an agreement, trying to work out what can be done. That, I think, is now the correct impression of what India is doing. I think we should recognize that India is now seen as a very constructive partner and that was not true about a year ago. Is a meaningful deal possible without the Americans coming on board? It is not possible to have a political deal without the US. They roughly equal China as the world’s biggest emitter by country; they are very strong in technology and would have to be a major player in finance. What you have in the US is a completely different administration at the federal level from last year; it is night and day in terms of approach to climate change. And, there is a strong willingness to engage, strong recognition of this problem with overcoming poverty—which most people will recognize is the defining challenge of this century. Is there a need to revisit the Kyoto Protocol? People mean different things when they say revisit the Kyoto Protocol. I would prefer to talk about the Bali road map; which, is what was agreed two years ago. There the principles of Annex-I and non-Annex-I countries were reaffirmed at least for a while. What does that mean: There is a group of countries, mainly rich countries, who should be taking on clear binding commitments through reductions; and, (the others, the) non-Annex-I countries should be taking strong action but with no strong binding commitments on emissions. I think that distinction is necessary for a while—meaning five or 10 years. And, mostly I think that’s what the poorer countries refer to when they are talking about Kyoto Protocol and Bali Action Plan. I think that distinction does matter. But I think we can look forward now and try to, in at least two ways, be quantitative about some targets for developing countries. Let me give you an example: China is talking now about targets for emissions; that is more specific. And I think those targets are likely to be strong; I have been talking to some people in China who are working on the 12th five-year plan that begins in 2011. That is for China to work out... That is one way in which I think we can move forward—not just generalized climate change action plan, but with climate change action plans with specific policies and some internal targets that may not be an overall emission target—that is for the individual countries to work out. China is an example; Brazil is another—a week ago President Lula da Silva said 80% reduction in deforestation by 2020; that’s a clear specific target where Brazil is adopting and looking for support ...The second thing is to start discussing circumstances in which developing countries could begin the process of taking on explicit targets. My view is that there will be strong conditions that developing countries could place. One is real progress in rich countries’ emission reduction targets. The second is promised support in finance. And the third is technology sharing. I think it is now possible to discuss those circumstances; what I prescribe is preserving the Bali road map, but moving beyond the very vague version to greater specificity. And I see that a way forward that could find an agreement. There is a fear that the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) is getting bypassed with the emergence of alternative forums such as G-20. Do you share this perception? I think we have to recognize that there is a basic structure, which is UNFCCC, but also with nearly 200 member countries it is quite difficult to make progress. We have to also recognize the biggest 20 emitters are responsible for 80% or more of the emissions; so from the point of view of responsibility of emissions I think the G-20 has a role to play. That does not mean it does not have a dominant role to play. I think the right place for the decisions has to be UNFCCC. On the issue of technology sharing, wouldn’t intellectual property (IP) be a key stumbling block? I think IP is overrated here. Why do you feel so? If you think of low-emission cars, these are questions of engineering skill, quality control, production, management; and, if you think of carbon capturing and storage that is quite similar in some respects in the techniques involved in the oil industry—like geology, finance, investment, management, organization. Now in the car industry and oil industry there will be a few issues of patents; but are those industries driven by patents? No. Not in the same way as the drug industry...so my first point is that IP is only a part of the story. I think technology sharing and sharing of know-how is very important and I wouldn’t narrow it down to IP. To be sure that it should not cause a problem; some funding should be designated to buy out IP where it turns out to be an issue would be a good idea. But, it should be placed in a broader issue of technology sharing, which I think is extremely important. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 12:45 pm A patron and a museRam Sutar always wanted to make large-sized sculptures. When he graduated from the Sir JJ School of Art in Mumbai, he got a job with the department of archaeology and joined the team that was working on restoring the sculptures at Ajanta and Ellora. This was where he first met Jawaharlal Nehru. “He used to bring a lot of foreign dignitaries and very proudly show off India’s art heritage,” Sutar says. The young restorer was introduced to Nehru during one of the prime minister’s visits and he was stunned by Nehru’s understanding and appreciation of art.  Idolized: Nine of Sutar’s Nehru statues have been installed at public places. Sudhanshu Malhotra / Mint After four years in the department and a short stint at the Directorate of Audio-Visual Publicity, Sutar quit his job in 1959 to work as a freelance sculptor. His first big assignment was to make a memorial at the Gandhi Sagar Dam in Chambal. The sculpture was commissioned by the Madhya Pradesh government. “When I went to the site, I heard the story that when the dam was commissioned, the Rajasthan government was not allowing for its foundation to be laid in their state. Apparently, it took two years for the two state governments to reach a consensus and it was decided that the dam would be shared by them,” he recalls. The person in charge of the project was a strong believer in the presiding deity of the Chambal river. “So he told me to make a sculpture of Chambal devi. But I thought of the story and I designed a sculpture of Chambal devi with two boys on either side. These were brothers and they depicted Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,” he says. The statue, named, Brotherhood, was 45ft tall. When Nehru came to inaugurate it in 1960, its craftsmanship and size impressed him. Sutar was introduced again, this time as the man behind the sculpture, and Nehru had good words for him. When the Bhakra Nangal dam was inaugurated in 1963, Nehru felt it too should have a monument—this time, commemorating the labourers. Artists were invited to submit their proposals.  As it happened, Sutar’s neighbour was a personal assistant to Nehru. He talked to him about the difficulties in getting anyone to see his designs for the project and the neighbour suggested he fix an appointment and visit Nehru. With the neighbour’s help, Sutar walked into Teen Murti Bhavan and was granted an audience with Nehru. He told him about his difficulties. “Nehruji said, ‘Your work is very good, you can go ahead’,” Sutar recalls. The main activities that labourers in the dam project were involved in were drilling and concreting. So Sutar designed his sculpture accordingly; an inspiring sardar flanked by a driller and a concrete mixer. Nehru personally saw and approved the design. Wanting it to be bigger than the Chambal sculpture, Sutar pegged its size at 50ft. It was to be cast in bronze. When asked for a price estimate, he made some rough calculations and quoted Rs15 lakh. The committee was stunned by what was a very high price at the time, so they sent the costing to Lalit Kala Akademi. “They were perhaps not told about the size of the sculpture or the fact that it was going to be in bronze, so they replied saying this price was fantastic,” Sutar says. He soon received a letter saying that the proposal for the sculpture had been shelved due to paucity of funds. Sutar tried to meet Nehru again but could not—Nehru died soon after.  Sutar (third from left) showing Nehru a portfolio of his designs during a meeting at Teen Murti Bhavan in 1963. In the early 1980s, he went to meet Indira Gandhi, carrying a bust of Nehru with him as a gift. In the course of the conversation, Gandhi mentioned that there were no good sculptures of Nehru. Sutar jumped at the opportunity and volunteered to create one. Gandhi commissioned the project—a 12ft-high bronze statue to be installed in Jaipur. Sutar worked on it, cast it and went to Jaipur. The pedestal was made and the statue placed on it. Gandhi was to inaugurate the statue a few days later, so Sutar returned to Delhi—only to hear that she had been assassinated. Sutar, who is now busy making scultpures for Mayawati, has installations of Nehru statues in places such as Lucknow and Mauritius. In 1995, he finally did get to install a statue at the Bhakra dam—an 18ft bronze Nehru now stands at the same spot where the ambitious labourer statue would have been. “Meeting Nehru was inspirational,” Sutar says. “He had such a high appreciation of art and artists. Despite being the prime minister of the country, he always had time to discuss, commission and admire works of art.” veena.v@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 12:45 pm The week in review for 13 November 2009New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid out an agenda for financial sector reform on Sunday. Speaking at the India Economic Summit, he said the country needed to strengthen its market for corporate bonds and its market for long-term debt. He also stressed on the need to develop India’s futures market and to reform its insurance sector. Later, the Prime Minister also indicated that while India’s economic growth had been impressive, the government would have to begin withdrawing its economic stimulus packages in the coming months. Singh also said high quality infrastructure was essential for India’s growth and called for greater spending in education and health. The next day finance minister Pranab Mukherjee also stressed that winding down stimulus packages was necessary. Mukherjee then reiterated India’s stance on climate talks, asserting that the United Nations was the proper forum for climate negotiations, and that rich countries would have to take responsibility for their historical role in climate change. Sebi has issued a show-cause notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) claiming the it has violated regulations connected to market making. The notice claims the BSE artificially created volumes in the derivatives segment. According to Sebi, the BSE created the volumes through market makers without getting Sebi approval for the move. Market making is used to infuse liquidity by allowing a market maker to quote both a “buy” and “sell” price in a financial instrument. India’s 3G and BWA auctions could see further delays. The defence ministry has written to the department of telecommunications, pointing out major discrepancies in a document it released last month. The defence ministry letter says the DoT has included spectrum that had not been agreed upon in the auction and does not include spectrum that the military has already vacated. After weeks of hard negotiations, India’s state governments finally laid out an architecture for the proposed goods and services tax or GST on Tuesday. But the draft remains silent on many issues. It says nothing about the actual tax rates, or whether they will meet the original April deadline. There’s also nothing on how sectors, like real estate and electricity, will be treated. But state finance ministers are saying the draft is a way to go forward, rather than a solution to the disagreements over GST. GST is an attempt to replace several different indirect taxes at the local, state and national levels, with a uniform tax structure. RIL may have a record of hunting for oil and gas, but the company has now begun the search for another precious mineral. It has launched a survey across some 1,800 square kilometres of land in Madhya Pradesh, to look for diamonds. A significant discovery could bring changes to India’s diamond cutting and polishing industry, which currently imports most of its diamonds. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, or NPCIL, may award GE an order, to build a nuclear power park in either Gujarat or Andhra Pradesh. GE says the park will have six reactors with a total capacity of 10,000MW. The government is concerned about a Chinese plan to divert water that goes into the Brahmaputra river. India’s power ministry is worried the diversion will affect hydroelectric projects downstream in Arunachal Pradesh. According to government estimates, Arunachal Pradesh has the potential to generate more than 50,000MW of hydropower. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 12:08 pm Bid to hike CNG price may raise transport costPublic transport running on CNG in cities such as Delhi and Mumbai as well as power is set to get costlier if the govt approves an oil ministry proposal to raise the price of gas under government control by as much as 33%.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Nov 2009 | 12:02 pm PVR snaps up DT in Rs 62 crore deal - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:59 am Investors pick hybrid MFsRetail investors are warming up to the idea of hybrid mutual fund schemes with a limited exposure to equity, say investment consultants.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:57 am M&M to pump in Rs 1,800cr for car plantThe Tamil Nadu cabinet on Thursday approved a Rs 1,800-crore car plant proposal of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) at Cheyyar, 100 km from Chennai.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:54 am L&T offloads 2.3% stake in Satyam for Rs 306crEngineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has divested 2.72 crore equity shares (2.3%) in Mahindra Satyam, which was formerly known as Satyam Computer Services, at Rs 112.50 per share for around Rs 306 crore.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:52 am PVR snaps up DT in Rs 62 crore dealMovie theatre chain PVR on Friday acquired DLF-owned DT Cinemas seven cinema halls in NCR and one in Chandigarh, 29 screens in all -- in a stock-cum-cash deal of Rs 62.2 crore.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:52 am HUL’s Vaseline ad slips on stay orderNew Delhi: Emami Ltd, a maker of personal care products, has obtained a stay from a Kolkata civil court that stops rival Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) from airing an advertisement for its Vaseline body lotion. The contentious commercial compares Vaseline with a tube of cream with Boro written on it, and a narrator saying that while an “ordinary Boro” lasts for only a few hours, Vaseline provides protection for 24 hours. Emami said in court that the advertisement was a “deliberate and intentional disparagement of Emami’s Boroplus” cream. HUL has contested the stay. “We felt it was a deliberate attempt to denigrate our Boroplus brand by showing that Vaseline was a better product,” Emami director Harsh Agarwal said. “The ad shows a product which looks similar to our brand with Boro written on the pack. It is clearly done with the intention to deride our brand.” The firm issued a statement on Friday that the Kolkata court had passed the stay order on 7 November. A HUL spokesperson, however, said: “We wish to clarify that the term Boro is not a trademark. It is a term generic to various skin creams in the market.” Other brands that have Boro as a part of their name include Boroline, Boro Natural and Borosoft. The court will hear the matter by the end of this month, Agarwal said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:52 am Land trouble may trip N-power in GujaratVashram Patel, a farmer in the Jasapara village in Gujarat, says it is better to fight and die on his land rather than move to another place.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:49 am 600m to get UID by 2014, says NilekaniOver 600 million people, about half of the country's $1.2 billion population, will get their unique identification (UID) numbers by the end of 2014.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:48 am After CEOs, senior bankers' pay to come under RBI lensThe Reserve Bank of Indias proposed guidelines on bank executives' compensation will be extended beyond just CEOs to all senior executives in private and foreign banks, especially those involved in treasury functions.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:48 am HDFC to buy 41% in education loan providerThe country's largest home loan player HDFC Ltd will acquire 41% stake in education loan provider company Credila Financial Services.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:46 am DLF sells multiplex chain to PVRLeading theatre chain PVR Ltd today announced a cash-and-stock deal to buy out realtor DLF groups national multiplex chain, DT Cinemas.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:46 am India Inc gets into bear hug with Russian consumersRussians may still be humming their all-time favourite song mera joota hai japani but they are now choosing to buy Hindustani in big numbers.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:44 am Are you the Google of your game?I didn’t exactly meet anyone from Google last week—I met Nikesh Arora, the company’s head of sales and business development, a fortnight ago at the HT Leadership Summit—but the company, and its founders, came up in two key meetings I had last week.  The first was with Rupert Murdoch who broke bread with several cabinet ministers and editors during a recent visit to New Delhi. I have no idea what Murdoch discussed at the other tables (he had a seat at each of the three, and moved from one to another so as to spend time with everyone) but at the table where I was seated, the discussion was about Google. Murdoch is the cheerleader of the paid content move on the Internet, and is among those who share the view that Google makes money off other people’s content. He said he knew the founders of Google, and that he thought it odd that they had never read a newspaper, and that their company could no longer access his content once he put it behind a firewall and took it pay. (Murdoch also said that Kindle didn’t work for newspapers and that he was looking at what would). For the record, Murdoch’s News Corp. owns Dow Jones and Co., publisher of TheWall Street Journal with which Mint has a content partnership in India. The second was with Yahoo’s Carol Bartz who met with a few editors on her first visit to India after taking over as the company’s CEO. Bartz, who insisted her company was in the “centre of people’s lives online” business, displayed her Google fixation when she said Yahoo was much more than a white page with a box (a clear reference to Google’s home page) and, in response to a specific question comparing the two companies, that the “boys from Mountain View don’t get it”.  Illustration: Jayachandran / Mint Isn’t it interesting that the mindspace of two very different chief executives—one of a large and established media firm and the other of a once-glorious Internet firm that is now seeking to reinvent itself as a media company of sorts —be dominated by a company that is still in a single line of business (at least in terms of revenue), and was started well after News Corp. and a little after Yahoo? Through the years, a succession of companies have sought to define themselves as “the” Internet company. And many media firms have tried to establish a presence across mediums, established and emerging alike. Yet, at this point in time, their strategies as well as the strategies of advertising firms—let’s not forget that it was WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell who popularized the term “frenemy” to define Google—are usually focused on thwarting Google, or responding to something the firm does. If you’re the Google in this story, it’s a great position to be in for any company. You do your own thing, and the industry or category sort of evolves around you. Write to acuteangle@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:42 am US President’s first Asia visit begins with vows to deepen tiesTokyo: Barack Obama insisted on Friday that the US was a “Pacific” power and vowed to deepen its engagement in the region as he set foot in Asia for the first time as US President. “The United States will strengthen our alliances, build new partnerships and we will be part of multilateral efforts and regional institutions that advance regional security and prosperity,” he said in Tokyo as he launched his four-nation tour.  New partnerships: Barack Obama (left) and Yukio Hatoyama in Tokyo. Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP The US President’s trip, just over a year after he won the election to the White House, is designed to shore up US power in a region increasingly dominated by rising giant China. Obama seeks to counter charges that US influence has frayed in Asia, with Washington distracted by its deep economic slump and the sapping wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Tokyo, he promised Americans a “transparent” decision soon on whether to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan, after apparent divides within his administration on strategy were leaked to the press. The US President also sought to ease a simmering row with Japan over US bases on the southern island of Okinawa, where the US military presence is intensely controversial and has strained ties between the decades-old allies. Hatoyama has voiced admiration for Obama and stressed similarities between their Democratic parties, which both defeated conservative governments on a promise of change. The leaders also agreed to work together to battle climate change and the spread of nuclear weapons, including the threat posed by North Korea, which has in the past test-fired missiles across the Japanese islands. Obama and Hatoyama said they “aspire to reduce” each nation’s greenhouse emissions by 80% by 2050, and to seek a global cut of 50% by then—matching a goal set by the Group of Eight rich nations. Asked whether he would visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the cities destroyed by US atomic bombs in World War II, Obama said: “I certainly would be honoured, it would be meaningful for me to visit those two cities in the future.” On the next leg of his trip, Obama will meet many regional leaders for the first time at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Singapore. He will also become the first US President to sit down with all 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including US foe Myanmar. Obama will then head to China in the three-day centrepiece of his tour, with top global security issues, along with trade and currency differences, on the agenda, before wrapping up his trip in South Korea. But he will not specifically mention Tibet in his speech on Asia policy on Saturday, a senior aide said, following claims Washington has downplayed the issue to avoid angering China. feedback@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:18 am Limit on FDI in newspapers, news channels may rise to 49%New Delhi: The government may be readying to relax foreign investment rules in newspapers and television news channels from the current 26% to 49% in a move that, if it goes through, will be welcomed by foreign media firms seeking an entry into one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and decried by some domestic media firms. Two people familiar with the matter confirmed that the government was going ahead with this move, although they differed on the contours of the change. A senior bureaucrat said the proposal was ready and that the government would announce the change—spanning print and broadcast—next month. A second person, who generally keeps abreast of developments in North Block, where the ministries of finance and home are located, said a cabinet note on increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) levels in news channels is ready and that he has seen it. This person added that a decision would be announced after a cabinet meeting that will be held shortly. Neither person wanted to be identified given the sensitivity of the issue. The government’s decision—if it happens—will also likely generate a political storm. Talking to Mint after a cabinet meeting on Thursday, information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni had said that although some media firms were pushing for increased FDI, there was no consensus among the media firms. Responding to a question on the proposal to increase the limit to 49% in news, she said that the government was discussing the various sectoral caps in media recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. “No decision has been taken on these yet,” she added. Soni has, in recent weeks, hinted at a coming change in foreign investment rules in media—first at the Indian Magazine Congress on 5 November and then at the World Economic Forum’s India Economic Summit on 9 November. A third person, the chief executive of a broadcast firm, said that he was aware of a proposal to increase the foreign investment level in news channels that the government was considering before this year’s general election. The government had decided to defer its consideration of the proposal till after the elections, given that the issue could have hurt its prospects in the elections. This person, who too did not want to be identified, said he had not heard of the government’s new move. Rajesh Jain, head of audit and consulting firm KPMG’s media practice, said: “If the 26% cap is indeed being pushed to 49%, it will have a positive impact on the foreign interest in the news broadcasting sector. Also, it would open up the opportunity beyond 26% for private equity investors as well. This will be a good thing for the companies, which need to raise money.” However, he added that a lot would depend on the fine print of the guidelines such as editorial control. Vivek Gupta, partner at boutique consultancy BMR Advisors, echoed Jain’s view on capital requirements: “The Indian consumer is highly value-driven and does not pay up easily for media products. So the companies need to make huge investments to reach scale.” The government first allowed 26% FDI in news and current affairs in print media in 2002. The ceiling for non-news newspapers and magazines was fixed at 74% and the policy had several caveats. In the case of news and current affairs newspapers and magazines, the guidelines said the shareholding could not be dispersed and a significant stake was to be held by a single Indian promoter. The policy also required key posts in the editorial board, including the chief editor’s, to be occupied by Indians. Last year, the government changed some of the rules for magazines and allowed foreign news and business magazines to launch Indian editions. However, the FDI level in ventures launching such editions was not raised and only Indian companies registered under the Indian Companies Act were allowed to launch them. The 2002 decision to allow 26% foreign investment reversed the 1955 cabinet resolution against foreign participation in news media. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:17 am Bhilai plant wins trophy for best steel unitBhilai Steel Plant, the flagship unit of the state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), has won the 'Prime Minister's Trophy' for the best integrated steel plant in the country for two successive years.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:04 am 'Incredible India' campaign wins award in AustriaThe 'Incredible India' promotional campaign, which showcases India's major holiday destinations, picked up yet another prestigious award at an international tourism event in Vienna Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am ‘Biggest land grab after Columbus’Bedanji, Chhattisgarh: In the remote rural expanse that could soon be gobbled up by a Rs19,500 crore steel plant, there is iron in the resolve of protesters. “We will not give our land to Tata,” says 60-year-old Sankar Das, a frail dhoti-clad Hindu priest, even as he pokes round in a cloth bag during a meeting of village elders. Das produces a letter written by residents of his village, Bedanji, to the district administrator of Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, home to some of the world’s richest iron ore.  My land, my way: Villagers show a letter written to a government official that says they would not sell their land in Chitrakoot, Jagdalpur. Satish Bhate / Hindustan Times “The Kakatiya kings brought and settled us here from Warangal 22 generations ago to worship the goddess and supervise sacrifices on Dussehra,” says the letter handwritten by Bedanji residents in Hindi. “We shall not move.” The Kakatiyas were medieval kings who ruled what is now Andhra Pradesh. But this is the enduring saga of modern India—farmers refusing to give their land to big businesses riding the wave of a booming economy, looking to feed the unending hunger of an infrastructure-hungry nation. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acknowledged the crisis last week. “There has been a systematic failure in giving tribals a stake in the modern economic system...the alienation built over decades is taking a dangerous toll,” he said. “The systemic exploitation of our tribal communities…can no longer be tolerated.”  And it seems no coincidence that India’s mining heartland is also the Maoist heartland. The Maoists are gaining support due to the decades-old angst over mining, forest rights and land acquisition. And they are spreading their influence, through subtle and drastic measures. In June, a small group of Maoists walked up to the weekly market in Lohandiguda village 340km south of Raipur, and at close range shot dead Vimal Meshram, 42, an influential tribal leader and a very vocal supporter of the Tata project. Then, in full public view, they walked away. “I think the biggest indictment of the mining sector is that it is only about rich lands and very poor people. Naxalites use mining to extort wealth, like politicians,” said Sunita Narain, head of the Centre of Science and Environment. “If you map the forest wealth, the mineral and the poverty of India, it’s a complete match.” Tribal people make up only 9% of the country’s population, but over 40% of the land used to build development projects was theirs, according to government estimates. A just-released government report blames the government and companies such as Tata and Essar for a corporate takeover in the hinterland of Chhattisgarh, warning of “the biggest grab of tribal lands after Columbus”. “This open declared war will go down as the biggest land grab ever, if it plays out as per the script,” said the report, commissioned by the rural development ministry, chaired by the then-minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. “The drama (is) being scripted by Tata Steel and Essar Steel who wanted seven villages or thereabouts, each to mine the richest lode of iron ore available in India,” it added. Both companies dismissed the allegation. “This is ridiculous…there is a formal memorandum of understanding, the land was allocated, the whole process was done in a legal manner. There is no land grab,” Tata Steel spokesman Sanjay Chowdhary told the Hindustan Times. “It is completely incorrect and baseless,” an unnamed Essar spokesman said in a statement to HT. “Biased and one-sided…reports like this only contribute towards vitiating the atmosphere, which is only suitable to anti-social, anti-development and anti-peace forces.” Still, tribal communities in India’s mining hubs have no stake in the wealth beneath their feet. An October public hearing was done as required under the law by the collector or administrator of Jagdalpur, the district where Lohandiguda is located, to seek villagers’ consent to the Tata project. It was held in a small hall fit for 300 people in the collector’s office, up to 30km away from the villages concerned, citing the Naxalite threat. Entry was restricted on roads from the villages to the office. Several in the gathering were accused by villagers of being government employees pretending to be village farmers. Approval for the project was unanimous, said district collector Manohar Singh Paraste. Many farmers have agreed to sell, the government says. Compensation cheques have been given away to a lot of people, but numerous complaints have also poured in, saying land was fraudulently bought and the money given to unknown people. Paraste denied any wrongdoing or that any government employees sat as decoy villagers in the public hearing, but saw no need for the public hearing to take place among the public. “This is how it has been done in the past, and this is how we will do it,” he said. In Takraguda village, not too far from where Meshram was killed in the market, that is not good enough for Badru Ram Nag, 45, deputy headman of the Takraguda village. “We don’t want the money. We won’t give the land,” he says. “We have nothing but land. If you take that away, we will die.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 10:33 am Trading in MF units allowedMumbai: Investors will soon be able to buy and sell mutual fund (MF) units on stock exchanges. India’s capital market regulator on Friday announced this game changer for the Rs7.62 trillion MF industry, three months after it abolished upfront commissions that were being paid to MF distributors.  A file photo of traders at a Mumbai brokerage. In order to sell MF units through exchanges, stock brokers will need to pass a certification course offered by industry lobby Association of Mutual Funds in India. Punit Paranjpe / Reuters Currently, investors buy MFs either from a distributor or from asset management companies (AMCs). A few online portals, too, sell these units. The exchange platform will be a critical new channel for the industry, say asset managers. A.Balasubramanian, chief executive officer (CEO) of Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co. Ltd that manages Rs65,053 crore, said the move will help both the AMCs as well as the investors. “It will be a cost-efficient channel for both. It will not take much time to implement as we will leverage the existing technological platform and nationwide network established by the exchanges,” he said. In order to be able to sell MF units through exchanges, stock brokers will need to pass a certification course offered by industry lobby, Association of Mutual Funds in India, Sebi said. The move comes as a breather to AMCs, hit hard by the market regulator’s move to ban upfront commissions charged by asset managers from 1 August. The industry has been seeing more redemptions than sales since August. In a recent interview with Mint,U.K. Sinha, chairman and managing director of UTI Asset Management Co. Ltd, said: “No industry can survive with this kind of negative sales.” “Mutual funds will have a wider geographic reach through exchanges as equity brokers will become eligible to sell fund units like shares. At present, 70-80% sales of mutual funds come from 10 cities, but with this move, funds will be able reach across the country where the two depositories record share sales,” said Dhirendra Kumar, CEO of New Delhi-based MF tracker Value Research. He, however, does not see any immediate rise in assets of MFs even though this will simplify the procedures of investments in such instruments. According to Piyush Surana, CEO of Shinsei Asset Management (India) Pvt. Ltd, the exchanges cannot replace the sales function (of distributors) and it is only an additional procedural facilitation. “The move makes mutual funds more accessible to investors, but someone has to sell the fund and someone has to buy. Essentially, one needs to convince the investors (to buy and sell),” he said. Ashutosh Wakare of Money BEE Institute, a training institute for MF distributors, said it requires a transformation of mindset of investors as “you are bringing a passive investor into an active platform”. “The idea is to facilitate the buying of mutual fund units through an avenue which has a greater reach. But, I don’t see any distinct advantage of this move, because mutual funds will still be required to be sold through the conventional concept selling methods,” said Hemant Rastogi, CEO of Wise Invest Advisors Ltd, an MF advisory firm. It is not known when the exchanges will start trading of MF units. A few online portals that help investors buy and sell MF units say the exchanges are in talks with them. Maju A. Nair, associate vice-president (MF- product manager), Sharekhan Ltd, said the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has already made a presentation of its proposed platform to the brokerage. He is meeting the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) soon. “It will make life easier for the online portals as the depositories will take care of the back-office—interactions with registrars,” he said. Derivatives expiry Sebi on Friday also allowed the stock exchanges to set the expiry day for equity derivative contracts. At present, the expiry day for equity derivatives is the last Thursday of every month on both the stock exchanges—NSE and BSE. Mint on Thursday reported BSE has received an approval from Sebi to set the expiry day of its monthly stock future contracts to the second Thursday of every month. n.subramanian@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 10:29 am Quick edit | Pandit Barack ObamaMore than eight out of 10 Indians were born after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, so it is very difficult to imagine the influence he had over a young republic. Nehru-baiting is a popular sport today. There is no doubt he made several mistakes in his economic and foreign policies, but his vision, leadership and patriotism need not be doubted. One way to understand the paradoxes of Nehru is to compare him with a modern political icon: Barack Obama, both eloquent orators, with support bases that cut across traditional divisions and the ability to use their personal charisma for politics. The parallels run deeper. Nehru and Obama are part of a long tradition that believes public policy run by experts can solve pressing national problems. They were/are liberal internationalists who used personal popularity to influence countries, though there is also a healthy dose of realism. To critics, they are woolly romantics with their heads in the clouds. One difference: Nehru led an emerging nation, Obama leads a nation in crisis. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 10:28 am All form, no play Giant bronze ants made with motorbike parts crawl menacingly on the floor, Cubist sculptures kiss and a Durga with a headlight for her third eye looks down on the viewer. The room that hosts artist Paresh Maity’s bronze sculptures at Mumbai’s Jehangir Art Gallery is also home to a 20-minute video, Kolkata to Kozhikode, that traces the path of the monsoon.  Mixed media: (above) Maity with a photographic work; Mystic City, oil on canvas. Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint In the other, larger space are Maity’s oil on canvases, mixed media and photography works. A sole watercolour stands testimony to what has long been the artist’s trademark—landscapes and seascapes. It depicts a fishing village in Orissa, one that Maity visits every year, and one that he brings alive here in ethereal blues. Most striking of all, however, are the black and white photographic portraits of children, young girls and fisherfolk. Maity has worked over the photographed images in pen and ink, rendering them with a dreamy exuberance. His canvases, with their straight geometric lines, evoke Picasso. Supervising installations a day before his show opens, Maity even points to a painting that is a less aggressive interpretation of Picasso’s famous Guernica, the painting that depicted the bombing of Basque country during the Spanish Civil War. Montage Moments Memories is Maity’s largest solo show till date. He has been prolific: The 44-year-old artist has had 52 shows so far. But this one comes after a four-year break. This is the first time the prestigious Jehangir Art Gallery has lent two spaces to a single artist. Viewed independently, some of the works on display are fabulous. The canvases are an interplay of warm hues and vibrant colours. Several large panels are tableaus that criss-cross the figurative, the representative and the stylized. The one that Maity refers to tentatively as Varanasi shows a number of characters from the holy city, each in a different act—praying, bathing, getting wedded, dying. But apart from the artist himself, there seems to be little that connects the four disparate parts of the show: The sculptures are called Face to Face, the suite of canvases is called Mystic City and the photographs, Faces of Life. The artist says, somewhat unconvincingly, that what connects them is water. “I grew up next to the water and I believe water is life,” he explains. He alludes to milk, curd and cheese—different forms of the same stock; a transformation to another language. Then he offers another explanation: The people in the black and white portraits were working and living around his studio in Santiniketan in West Bengal. Born in Tamluk, situated on the banks of the Rupnarayan river in south Bengal, Maity did grow up seeing water. He graduated in fine arts from the Government College of Art and Craft in Kolkata and obtained his master of fine arts from the Delhi College of Art, topping his class. Known earlier for his watercolour landscapes, he moved gradually from atmospheric scenery to representations of the human form. He has won a number of awards, including one from the Royal Watercolour Society of London in 2002. For the last few years, photographer Nemai Ghosh—best known for his portraits of Satyajit Ray—has been documenting Maity at work around the world. The photographs will be released as part of a documentary-styled book early next year. Brushing some fibres off one of his canvases, Maity comments on the presentation at the show. “They’re all museum frames,” he says, while emphasizing the multiplicity of artistic media in the two rooms. Evidently, that’s the crux of the show. Paresh Maity takes Marshall McLuhan’s aphorism very seriously: The medium is the message. Montage Moments Memories, which opened at Jehangir Art Gallery on 10 November, will show there until tomorrow and will then be on display at Art Musings Gallery, Colaba Cross Lane, Mumbai, until 9 December. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 10:26 am Reliance Ind withdraws affidavitsNew Delhi: Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) efforts to strengthen its case against Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) by portraying the disputed gas deal between the two as a family agreement between the former’s promoter Mukesh Ambani and RNRL’s promoter Anil Ambani that the board of RIL wasn’t aware of seems to have suffered a setback. On Friday, RIL decided to withdraw the affidavits of seven of its directors that it had submitted to the Supreme Court on 5 October and said that the board of the company had not approved and was unaware of the family agreement or the so-called memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the estranged brothers dated 18 June 2005.  While RNRL has sought the apex court’s intervention in a special leave petition for the immediate supply of 28 million standard cu. m a day (mscmd) of gas from KG D6 at $2.34 (Rs108.8) per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) for a period of 17 years, RIL, in its affidavit, has opposed this, saying the price is 44% lower than that mandated by the government and it cannot supply gas at a price not approved by the government and to a user not listed in the country’s gas utilization policy. The MoU signed on 18 June 2005 between the brothers had set the rules for division of the Reliance group’s assets between them and is the basis for RNRL’s claims to the gas. On Thursday, RNRL counsel Ram Jethmalani had argued that if these affidavits were part of new evidence on behalf of RIL, then the directors would have to be present in the court for cross-examination. In Friday’s hearing before the apex court, RNRL again objected to the affidavits of the directors. RIL’s counsel Harish Salve replied that these affidavits had been filed in response to paragraph “J” in RNRL’s original petition to the court that says that “existence of the MoU was recorded, accepted and approved by the RIL board of directors”.  Deciding claim: A file photo of RIL’s rig in KG basin. The MoU inked on 18 June 2005 between the Ambani brothers had set the rules for division of the Reliance group’s assets and is the basis for RNRL’s gas claims. Jethmalani said that his client would stand by every single submission made before the court. Salve agreed to drop the affidavits and go by his previous submissions in the court. Jethmalani claimed victory and said: “History is repeating itself, when the government filed the affidavit in the Bombay high court and we sought to cross-examine them, they withdrew the affidavits. Similarly RIL has today developed cold feet.” His reference was to a government petition in the Bombay high court when it was hearing the RIL-RNRL case. The petition effectively strengthened RIL’s case. Salve, however, downplayed the withdrawal of affidavits. And after court proceedings, he clarified to reporters that the withdrawal of the affidavits of the directors was indeed conditional to RNRL amending its petition to leave out paragraph “J”. Later, another lawyer for RNRL Mukul Rohtagi confirmed that there would not be any changes in the petition. Spokespersons of both RIL and RNRL said they had nothing further to add. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 10:24 am India looking at 60 state firms for stake sale: officialNew Delhi: “India aims to sell shares of about 60 state-run firms in the coming years, with offers for NTPC and Rural Electrification Corp expected by end-March 2010,” disinvestment secretary Sunil Mitra said on Friday. Mitra also said that the finance ministry was in talks with other ministries to launch public offers for Steel Authority of India, miner NMDC, Coal India Ltd and telcoms firm BSNL. Analysts said that it may not boost sentiments as appetite may be lacking for follow-on offers of listed firms unless shares are offered at a discount, but would help cut fiscal deficit. Investors were expecting faster progress in stake sales along with reforms in insurance and banking sectors after the Congress Party-led coalition was re-elected with a stronger majority at the April-May general elections. Scanty rainfall and floods briefly shifted policy focus to taming food price inflation in the last two months, but ministers have said recently reforms would be speeded up and more state-run firms would be taken up for stake sales. Last week, the cabinet approved a long-pending divestment policy that mandates at least 10% public holding in state-run firms and use the proceeds for social schemes until March 2012, to cut its fiscal deficit. “There are 10 public sector enterprises (PSEs) with less than 10% public holding. There are around 50 PSUs that are unlisted and that have recorded net profit in the last three years,” Mitra said, referring to companies that qualify for stake sales in the coming years. He did not give details of the amount that could be raised. “What this means for the market is that there is going to be good supply of securities but that does not mean a bullish trend,” said V.K. Sharma, head of private broking and wealth management at HDFC Securities. “With a plethora of public offers you can’t play up the market. In case of follow-on offers, I don’t think there will be large appetite unless they are offered at a discount,” he said. Shares of SAIL were up 3.3% and NTPC rose 0.35% in a firm Mumbai market, the benchmark index of which closed up nearly 1%. DIFFERENTIAL PRICING Since August, share sales in state firms NHPC and Oil India have raised about $1.8 billion. “A 5% stake sale in state-run Indian power producer NTPC could fetch the government more than three times the Rs2700 crore it got five years ago when it offloaded 5.25% of shares,” Mitra said, indicating the share sale could fetch at least Rs8100 crore. “The government would consider offering retail investors shares in state-run firms at a cheaper rate and could also look at auctioning shares to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) or big investors,” Mitra said. “The finance ministry was also in touch with regulators to fast track clearances of the public offers, he said. “Disinvestment seems to be picking up momentum. In the current year, it is the only way they can rein in the fiscal deficit as tax revenues are not going to be buoyant,” said N.R. Bhanumurthy, economist at National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. India’s fiscal deficit is set to widen to 6.8% of gross domestic product in fiscal year 2009-10, from 6.2% a year ago, on duty cuts and stimulus spending. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 9:54 am Some sectors may see demand suppressionMumbai: The government had announced tax cuts and boosted spending in some sectors to combat the economic slowdown last year. Now, with the economy showing signs of a turnaround and the government needing to curb a growing fiscal deficit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has indicated that these measures will be rolled back next fiscal. Mint spoke to Apurva Shah, vice-president and head of research at broking firm Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. Ltd to gauge the possible impact of the rollback. Edited excerpts: The government is saying it will roll back the stimulus next fiscal. Is that inevitable? There are two things. One is, can the economy or specific sectors continue to do well without the stimulus. I am of the opinion that if the excise duty cuts, etc., are completely rolled back, there will be an impact on demand. To that extent, it’s probably not a wise strategy to rollback the stimulus for the next, say, two-three quarters. After that, I am not sure; we’ll have to take a call at that time. The second thing is that there are other ways to balance the budget and continue with the tax cuts. And continue with them irrespective (of the state of the economy)…in the sense that low taxes are always good for consumption and, therefore, the economy. The problem for the government is that it has to ultimately generate resources to balance the budget. Disinvestment is one of the routes that is being spoken about. Cutting subsidies where they are not deserved is another. So there are ways to deal with this. Then you need not roll back the stimulus at all. How responsible was the stimulus for the decent company earnings seen in the past two quarters? It’s probably not that clear what the direct impact is in some sectors. But, for example, if you look at the auto sector, it’s clearly benefited from the stimulus. Yes, there is a benefit for other sectors but it is difficult to pinpoint the cause-benefit relationship. What will be the immediate impact if the tax cuts are rolled back? In some sectors, it is very clear that the stimulus had a beneficial effect. In those sectors, there will be suppression of demand. And I would pinpoint particularly the commercial vehicle and auto (passenger vehicle) sectors. The sector is doing all right, and there is a small chance that some of the duty cuts might be rolled back. Which are the other sectors that will be affected? That will depend on what the rollback is, whether it will be widespread. For instance...the exports sector is not back on its feet. I’ll be very surprised if any of the incentives to this sector are rolled back, especially when it is dealing with a lot of issues such as an appreciating currency and all that. Overall, if you see the earnings—a lot of it is due to cost savings, reduction in raw material prices, etc. There are no major upswings as far as revenue growth is concerned. So, while the government is making the right noises about rolling back, I think it’s at least five-six months away. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 9:52 am The new secret of happiness Those protests had little impact and the bans were removed in due course as the markets stabilized. It’s now more than a year since those bans were imposed and we have a wealth of data to sift through to see whether the restrictions on short-selling worked. Alessandro Beber of the University of Amsterdam and Marco Pagano of the University of Naples Federico II have now carried out a study of the bans and regulatory constraints on short-selling during the recent financial crisis, by examining data for around 17,000 stocks from 30 countries. They compared the prices of stocks for which short-sales were restricted (financial stocks in some countries) with stocks that didn’t have these restrictions. They also estimated the impact of the ban by comparing stocks where short-selling was banned with similar stocks in countries where there was no ban.  Illustration: Jayachandran / Mint Several months after the ban on short-sales had been imposed, in a telephone interview to Reuters, Christopher Cox, the former chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission who had banned short-selling of stocks for a few weeks, had the grace to say, “Knowing what we know now, I believe on balance the commission would not do it again. The costs (of the short-selling ban on financials) appear to outweigh the benefits.” How large are returns to schooling? Hint: Money isn’t everything, by Philip Oreopoulos and Kjell G. Salvanes, NBER We all know that more schooling results in better jobs and higher incomes—at least if we compare college graduates with high school graduates and those who have done their MBA from those that haven’t. But Philip Ourepoulos and Kjell Salvanes of the US National Bureau of Economic Research are interested in measuring the non-pecuniary benefits of more schooling.  Illustration: Jayachandran / Mint Other benefits include a lower probability of finding oneself unemployed, much better chances in the marriage market, improvement in decision-making capabilities that lead to better choices, including more stable marriages and better parenting. The authors provide a long list of benefits: “Schooling also encourages patience and long-term thinking. Teen fertility, criminal activity, and other risky behaviour decrease with it. Schooling promotes trust and civic participation. It teaches students how to enjoy a good book and manage money.” Perhaps all this is true in the US. But in India, where a PhD or a postgraduate study course is often taken up by people unable to get a better job, the link between good jobs and schooling may be tenuous. Why else do thousands of people with post-graduate degrees apply for menial jobs in Indian Railways? And does our education system, with its emphasis on rote learning, really promote trust and improve our decision-making skills? Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 9:44 am Krishna, Bheem are the new cartoon idols for childrenNew Delhi: After nearly two decades, the gods are back on Indian television, but they are no longer the staid, overdressed avatars of Doordarshan’s Mahabharat and Ramayan. Click here to view a slideshow of popular cartoons based on Indian mythology Hindu mythology grabbed the attention of viewers in the 1980s, now mythological cartoons have snagged their children. Television’s new animated gods play ice-hockey and travel on snowboards and jazzy bicycles, that is, when they’re not fighting demons that resemble Jurassic Park-style monsters.  Leading the kids pack for several months now has been Chhota Bheem, a show that runs on Pogo, one of the two children’s channels run by Turner International, a unit of Time Warner Inc. According to TAM Media Research Pvt. Ltd, a television audience measurement firm, the show is ranked No. 2 for the week ended 7 November. Of the other channels in the space, Nick shows Little Krishna in Hindi and English while Kids Media India Pvt. Ltd’s Spacetoon channel is planning a slew of mythological cartoons next year. They’re all seeking to appeal to viewers like Vinayak Swaroop, who, until recently, counted Spiderman and Tom and Jerry as his favourite cartoon characters. Now the six-year-old is a bigger fan of Lord Ram, thanks to the animated movies he watches on Pogo. “I like Ramji because he kills Ravana,” Swaroop says. Like Swaroop, an increasing number of Indian children are getting hooked to a host of animated characters drawn from the pantheons of Hindu mythological warriors. When Nick decided to suspend the airing of Little Krishna to prevent viewer fatigue, Joshua Gaikwad’s father tried shopping for a DVD to help with his three-year-old son’s mealtimes. “My son got used to eating his meals while watching Little Krishna on TV, so when the channel stopped showing it, it became a tough job for my wife and me to get him to eat because he was hooked,” says Joshua’s father Pramod Gaikwad.  Superhero for masses: Little Krishna and his friends. “I went looking for DVDs everywhere, but couldn’t get it in the market and was just relieved when the channel put the show back on,” he said. The appeal crosses over to families as well. Rashmi Swaroop also likes watching the serials along with her son Vinayak. “The bottomline is that the stories show our culture, tradition and religion,” says Rashmi. “Inculcating traditional values in children is very important especially in today’s world.” Business opportunity That’s led to more advertisers on kids’ channels, not just those targeting children. They include Gillette India Ltd, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co. Ltd, Aegon Religare Life Insurance Co. Ltd, Life Insurance Corp. of India and even ads for cricketing events such as the Indian Premier League. For the Indian animation industry, otherwise mainly known for working on projects outsourced by major global firms, mythological serials are a harbinger of new business opportunities. It’s an easy source to mine and the stories are immediately identifiable. “It’s not so much about mythology as it is about the Indian animation industry, which is at a very nascent stage right now,” says Krishna Desai, director of programming for Turner India, speaking about the country’s Rs2,000 crore animation industry. “Developing content around tried-and-tested stories such as the wonderful myriad stories that make up Indian mythology is, we find, the best place to start.” With mythologicals, there is no risk associated with the creation of a new character. “Every time you make a character, you have to spend probably twice or thrice the amount to make the character into a brand,” says Ashish S.K., CEO of Big Animation (I) Pvt. Ltd, a unit of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. In a bid to minimize risks, “you go with all the stories and brands that are already existing”. But even with popular bankable characters, producers wanted to leave little to chance. They carried out extensive research to make the serials relevant to the current generation of children who have access to the best of global animation. Point of reference Big Animation enlisted the research services of the India Heritage Foundation, a unit of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness. Jeffrey Scott, the Los Angles-based Emmy Award-winning scriptwriter who’s worked on animation properties such as Dragon Tales and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was hired to handle the writing on Little Krishna. Vincent Edwards, one of the directors of the Spiderman television series, also came on board. Hyderabad-based Green Gold Animation Pvt. Ltd has been producing content since 2000, but it was the animation movie series on the life of Krishna, which started airing in 2006 on Cartoon Network, that was the “turning point” for the company. Green Gold’s Chhota Bheem and Krishna and Balram are currently running on Cartoon Network. Big Animation doesn’t just want to make cartoons for children. It plans to turn the latter part of Krishna’s life into an animation series meant for grown-ups that can be shown on the general entertainment and movie channels in nine different Indian languages. The firm also plans to take the series international next year and try and sell it to channels in about 60 countries. Nina Elavia Jaipuria, senior vice-president of Nick India, is optimistic that Indian mythological cartoons will find a global audience as well. “There is no reason why Little Krishna can’t be as big as a Superman or Spiderman,” she says. rasul.b@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 9:42 am PVR to acquire DT Cinemas, gets Thai firm on board New Delhi: The Rs350 crore film exhibition firm PVR Ltd, which operates 108 movie screens, on Friday reached an agreement with the DLF group to buy the latter’s DT Cinemas business through a part-stock and part-cash deal.  Grabbing screen: PVR chairman and MD. Ajay Bijli. Madhu Kapparath/Mint DT Cinemas operates 26 screens. As part of the deal, DLF group has agreed to offer exclusive rights to PVR to be the anchor cinema hall partner in its future mall projects. Ajay Bijli-promoted PVR would also issue about 2.5 million shares to DT Cinemas, representing 10% of its share capital, and pay Rs20.2 crore to fund the acquisition of DLF group’s exhibitions business. The company also announced that Thailand’s retail entertainment and multiplex firm Major Cineplex Group Plc will buy a 10% stake in PVR. The Thai firm would be investing about Rs42 crore in PVR by subscribing to some 2.5 million new shares for Rs165 apiece, a premium of 19% over the closing stock price of PVR of Rs139 on the National Stock Exchange on Thursday. The scrip closed at Rs140.25 on Friday. Major Cineplex is listed on Thailand Stock Exchange and operates some 350 screens, 500 bowling lanes, 300 karaoke rooms and two ice-skating rinks. “We have been working with Major Cineplex for a year now but the strategic investment will help us to leverage Major’s learnings and expertise in international market,” said Bijli, PVR’s chairman and managing director. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 8:29 am Lounge podcastWelcome to the second edition of the Lounge podcast! Every weekend, the Lounge podcast will get you the latest from the world of arts, culture, films and lifestyle. We come to you today with loads of ‘this and that’ from the world of art and culture. In this week’s edition of the Lounge podcast, we have our film expert, Sanjukta Sharma tear apart the lastest from Bollywood--Tum Mile--the Mahesh Bhatt film starring Emran Hashmi and Soha Ali Khan. Then we have you listen to Kamna Prasad--the publisher of Husian’s autobiographical e-book. Part of the regulars are book critc Chandrahas Choudhury’s comments on Orhan Pamuk’s The Museum if Innocence. And finally, Lounger Himanshu Bhagat chats up with singer Shubha Mudgal on the music copyright conference that she is attending this weekend. We hope you enjoy listening to this edition of the Lounge podcast and look forward to your feedback. Do tune in next week! Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 8:11 am JAL falls to Q2 loss, seeks its 4th state bailoutTokyo: Japan Airlines, which is seeking a state bailout, sank into the red last quarter as the economic slowdown hit travel and cargo demand, and it said it had applied for mediated debt restructuring. Saddled with $15 billion in debt, a massive pension deficit and dozens of unprofitable flight routes, JAL is now seeking its fourth state bailout since 2001. Asia’s largest carrier by revenue said in its earnings report that there was a great deal of uncertainty about its ability to continue as a going concern. It has applied for help to the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp, a government-backed turnaround fund. JAL fell to a group net loss of 32.2 billion yen ($357 million) in the July-September quarter after reporting a 40.1 billion yen profit a year ago. Quarterly revenues dropped 26% to 429 billion yen. “We have a relatively big exposure to international business, and this sector was hit really hard by the global economic downturn,” JAL president Haruka Nishimatsu told a news conference on Friday. “I think we’ll need to push forward the downsizing of our international business.” The struggling carrier, which earlier this year projected an annual net loss of 63 billion yen, did not give forecasts for the year due to uncertainties over its business outlook. JAL applied for a debt restructuring scheme under which a third party will mediate between the company and its creditors. The scheme, called Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), would trigger a suspension of loan payments. The Japanese government has pledged to enlist a state bank to offer bridge loans to prevent the carrier from running short of cash and keep the airline afloat. American Airlines Corp and Delta Air Lines have shown an interest in taking a minority stake in JAL to access JAL’s Asian network and get a stronger foothold in Japan. But analysts say capital injections or additional financing alone won’t improve the carrier’s prospects due to its severely underfunded pension programmes. Nishimatsu met with the leaders of JAL retirees’ associations on Thursday to seek their approval on pension payout reductions. Media reports said the leaders expressed their wish to cooperate in some way to save the airline, but many retirees are expected to strongly oppose having their pension payments cut. JAL’s shares closed down 0.9% at 106 yen ahead of the results, underperforming the benchmark Nikkei 225 average, which fell 0.4%. JAL shares have lost half of their value since the start of the year, while the Nikkei gained 10%. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 13 Nov 2009 | 1:48 am
|
